I am still pondering on the matter of ‘the public interest’. Listening to Jim Al-Khalili’s program, The Life Scientific, and his interview with Darren Croft who has been researching killer whale matriarchs and the menopause, I noted that the killer whales seem to have quite strong emotions, and in particular with the care and attention put into the nurturing of the young. The strong matriarchal society is very much intent on securing what is in the best interest of the group’s survival. Although it is stated that the female orcas live, in the wild, to an average of 50 years, and the males to about 30 years, there are records to indicate that they can live up to 80-100 years.
It is stated that “Their communication is apparently though pulsed calls and whistles, which form a unique dialect for a family. They express their identity through their cultural habits, and their prey choices are central to this, and so it shapes their language. Their language is learned and inherited, and they can hear their mother in the womb and consequently are learning their family’s language before they’re born.
The Southern Resident whales’ language is so sophisticated that it contains three distinct dialects, one for each of the pods, with vocalisations that are. Unique to each pod. Some of the calls are common across all three pods, facilitating communication across the community, which allows them to socialise, bond, and mate with other pod members, and most likely for many other cultural and social traditions that we are not even aware of.”
In addition “Orcas have large brains for their body size, and the region used for emotional intelligence is particularly well developed. Southern Region Killer Whales are a tightly bonded, close-knit community, who share a common language, traditions and culture. It’s not surprising that their brains have evolved to process social and emotional experience. On occasion, we may get glimpses of this, such as during times of celebrations of birth and reunion, or mourning at the passing of a whale. Various ‘ceremonies’ have been witnessed and documented and assumed to be the sharing of the loss of a cherished family member.”
We have also all seen
documentaries, usually narrated by Sir David Attenborough, depicting the
organised hunting procedures at work among killer whales when in search of
prey. (Note: Celia is of the view that Orcas are bad mothers as they feed their youmg males extra food to make them bigger and they keep doing this nurturing well beyond any necessity to do so - worse than jewish mothers)
Nothing in these observations differs much from similar observations of human beings; however, the level of sophistication amongst humans surely should be on a higher level from killer whales. Our languages are more complex and precise, our ability and facility to learn more evolved, as is our ability to explore and examine emotions and relationships.
It may have taken several million years, but we now have nation states, a concept of democracy comprising legal systems, political systems, educational systems and economic systems that, if allowed to flourish in peace, taking into account what we have learned about caring for the planet, will be of great benefit to all living creatures. So, just what is the problem?
If whale pods can come to a modus vivendi in the Pacific Ocean, then surely human beings should be able to manage; yet, the spectre of nationalism, ludicrous outmoded notions of old territorial claims and control still seem to hold sway. It is not only conservative politicians who still cling to these obstructive views. The idea of “fighting for one’s country” as a patriotic duty in a world that supposedly values peace above all, where leaders and politicians decry violence in all its forms, should surely be replaced by “fighting for the planet in the public interest”.
The progression towards unity of purpose was established with the creation of The League of Nations, followed by the formation of the United Nations and the Security Council. Imperfect though that may be, it does have some significance in trying to bring nations together. The European Union, and its Economic Union, was brought about to prevent any further conflicts on the European continent. Anyone visiting Strasbourg, the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights, cannot help but be moved by their presence and what they represent. The exhibition on display depicting the history and the necessity for its existence is overwhelming.
What is tragic, is that the United Kingdom, in its darkest hour, having held up a light and shouting “Enough!”, having brought about a unity of purpose, has completely forgotten and abandoned what it set in motion those eighty five years ago. Somehow it clings to the memory, celebrates the honoured dead every year, yet has completely overlooked what they died for. This repetition is a state of atrophy rather than a vision forward. Cherishing the past, swooning to Nimrod, singing Jerusalem and Rule Britannia is living in denial. It is Ground Hog Day. Elgar wrote the piece to get out of a fit of depression. It is about awakening. It is about getting it together and moving on. It is about getting on with the business of making good in the public interest.
Having begun the first draft of the Human Right Act with Magna Carta in 1215 and refined it over the years to enable two revolutions (1776 and 1789) to incorporate it into their manifestos and constitutions, the UK now seeks to abandon it altogether. Having come so far one has to ask “What is wrong with you people?”. Now is the time to get back to and promote unity of purpose. Don’t tell me things are going to get worse before they get better, tell me “This is how we start making things better”, and if you want better stuff, we have to make do and pay for it.
Pulling down the curtains to make new clothes will expose us to the elements, and to comments from people now able to look in through the windows; but, we’ll be well dressed and worth looking at. After all isn’t that in the public interest.
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